Karnataka legislature to go paperless soon: Khader

Mangaluru: Assembly speaker UT Khader said the state legislature will transition to a fully paperless system in the next six months, with MLAs and MLCs set to use tabs equipped with a dedicated application during assembly and council sessions.Khader told reporters on Tuesday, that the move will eliminate the need for paper documents, and significantly reduce expenditure on printing and transportation.As part of the initiative, the assembly and council have signed an MoU under the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) project to implement the digitisation programme.Khader said several digital solutions were studied before the govt opted for the NeVA platform. Under the project, the central govt will bear 60% of the implementation cost.The estimated cost of digitising the legislative assembly in Bengaluru and Belagavi is Rs 78 crore, while the digitisation of the council in the two cities is expected to cost Rs 52 crore. The project will be overseen by officials from the National e-Vidhan Application and a state-level monitoring committee, Khader explained.Once implemented, all legislative documents, including agendas, bills, starred and unstarred questions, and their answers will be made available electronically. Legislators will be able to access the documents through their devices, reducing paperwork and preventing the loss of important records.Khader said all legislators will be trained to use the new system. During sessions, tabs will be fixed to members’ desks and stored securely once proceedings conclude.